Around Maryland

A little girl in Maryland got a big surprise for Christmas, but it wasn’t under her tree – it was an ancient fossil hiding underwater. Alicia Sampson wrote on Facebook that her daughters Molly and Natalie asked for insulated waders for Christmas so that they could “go sharks tooth hunting like professionals.” And as soon as they got the waders, that was just what they did. “The only thing Molly really wanted for Christmas was insulated chest waders because she knew she was missing out on some good fossil finds further out in the water,” Sampson told CBS News. “…As soon as they finished breakfast, they got their waders on as quick as they could and headed to the cliffs with my husband Bruce.”

The Baltimore City Department of Public Works has “no firm timeline” for reinstating weekly recycling pickup and estimates it could take up to three years to resolve severe staffing shortages, optimize its collection routes, acquire needed vehicles and make software upgrades to get citywide service back on track. That roadmap was laid out in a 28-page report released Monday, the same day that DPW’s director, Jason Mitchell, announced his resignation amid persistent criticisms of his management on multiple fronts, including on citywide recycling service and the city’s troubled wastewater plants. Mitchell said he is resigning for health and family reasons.

New Democratic governors with “green” pedigrees in Maryland and Pennsylvania are fueling environmentalists’ hopes of progress during this year’s legislative season. Meanwhile, a Republican governor in Virginia is trending greener than many had expected as he enters his first full calendar year in office. That has some activists seeing opportunities for compromise. Here’s how environmental issues are shaping up in the three key Chesapeake Bay watershed states during their 2023 lawmaking sessions.

Nearly three years after the COVID-19 pandemic began, reports of domestic violence cases in Anne Arundel County have continued to rise, straining the fragile network of safe houses and shelters that attempt to help women seeking safety. According to data compiled by the Maryland Courts, 3,091 protective and peace orders were issued in Anne Arundel County in 2022. The total is an increase from 2,866 in 2021 and 2,576 in 2020. That’s about a 20% jump in calls from around the time the pandemic began.

Carroll County Commissioners’ President Ed Rothstein has been elected to the 16-member board of directors for the Maryland Association of Counties, or MACo, as it is commonly known. Rothstein was installed last week and will serve a one-year term. MACo is a nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy group for Maryland’s 23 counties and Baltimore city. It works for effective, efficient government through education and collaboration; its membership consists of county elected officials and representatives from across the state.